Gravity molding apparatus.



. No. 840,789. PATENTE'D JAN B, 1907. J. E. MITCHELL & 1). PARKS. GRAVITY MOLDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28,1906.-

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

No. 840,789 PATENTED} JAN. 8, 1907. J. E. MITGHELLA: 1). PARKS.

GRAVITY MOLDING APPARATUS.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 28, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' jlfii'n Joan EMiZcZsZiZ,

UNITED srA'rEs PATENT orrroii. Y

JOHN E. MITCHELL AND DENNIES PARKS. ()F ST. LOUlS, MISSOURI, AS- SIU-NORS TO Ml'iCHELL-PARKS MANUFAUTURING'CO, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI. A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

GRAV iTY MOLDING APPARAYUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3. 1907.

Application filed June 28,1906. Serial No. 323.911.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that We, Jenn E. MITCHELL Tend DENNIS PARKS, citizens of the United States, residing at StJLouis, in the State of Missouri, have invented new and useful hnprovenients in Gravity Moldin Apparatus, of which the following is o. specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for use in the art of molding, nnd has for its obj ects to provide novel in eens for elevating and compressing the send and finally discharging the some in separate unitarycompact bodies at a point considerably above the i'loslgso that bodies of sand in falling through space will acquire a high degree of momentuni. and by impact with the flask and with bodies of sand previously discharged thereinto will firmly pack in the flask and about the ettcin inclosed t-herel y; to provide nove means for supporting and manipulat ing the llosk during the packing operation and for subsequently depositing the packed flask upon a suitable receiver end then removing the pattern theielroiii, and to provide novel means for topping oil or removing surplus sand from the flask.

I In addition to the nbove-stntcd general objects of the invention other objects relste to details of construction and to combinetimis and operations of ports, all as hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

We have illustrated our invention in the r accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is it view in .\'l(l(' (.ltWltllUl], portly 5 broken nwnv illustralin :in in mrulus em h bodymg our invention. 1' 1g. 2 is :1 view in front elevation of that purl ol the device.

above the ilooidino. Figv I; is n SOC-llOll on the linc 3 3 ol Fig. l. l -'l is a section on. the line 4 4 of l ig, Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 of Fig. l. Fig. (i is'u view in side sectionalclevntioh of a portion of the nppzirm tus, showing the llusk reversed and deposited on n truck and the pattern withdrawn from the lhtsk; and Fig. 7 is n perspective view of the scraping device.

Referring now to the drawings, the numere-l 1 ii'idicntes the lloor of the moldingroom; 2, a truck thereon; 3, a truck mounted to travelon said track, end 4 e llnsk inclosing is mounted a send-receptacle 5, containing a hopper 6, the lower end o'l which is closed by a feed-roller 7, located, as shown, some distance above the bottom of thercceptnclc 5. At the top of the hopper linnd immediately under the opening in the lloor is suitably mounted at screen 8, which is ngitnted by menus of u rod J and crank or eccentric 1U, operated from on y suitable source of power. Mounted in the lower part of the receptacle 5 are two sprocket-wheels 11, and mounted on rnlters or other supports 12, located ct it suitable distnnce--sny thirty i'eet- --nbove the iloor, are two similar sprockcbwhcols 13. Two sprocket chnins 14 puss over the respective sets of sprocket-wuccls ll 13 and are connected to form an endless carrier by a, series of L-sluipcd buckets 1:), which are of at length to pass freely bclwoen the respective pairs of sprocket-wnccls ii and 12 and. between two pairs of guide-pulleys 16 17, mounted in suitable bearing on the floor 1.

The lower part oi the rcceptncIeS is provided with on inclined partition 18 to form it compartment 19 to receive the send fed from' j the bottom of the trough at opposite sides l l l i l l l l l i l a pattern. Beneath on opening in the floor l th'crcol, so that the outer edge of each bucket will be nuunlnmed n slight (llSL21-!1(56- -S&y en

, eighth of un inch----ztbovo the botto in ol the trough to allow the surplus send carried out by the buckets or sand felling therefrom to slide beck into the compartment it). 7

23 indicates 2L pecking -plate which is weighted :it its outer end, as indicated at 24,

end mounted on it rod 25, which is ivotelly supported in bearings 26, mounted on the lloor 1.

27 indicates a support for the packingplate. As each bucket passes out of the trough 21 and beyond the guide-pulley l 6 its bottom assumes a substttntiall horizontal position, and immediately thereafter it comes in contact with the under side of the packing-plate, which operates to press or pack the sand in the bucket. The packingplate will be raised as the bucket travels upward, and as the latter passes from beneath."

it will fall back on the support 27 in position to be engaged by the nextbucket. As each bucket passes around thesprocket-Wheels 13 it will be turned gradually upside down, and when the bottom assumes a substantially horizontal position the wad of sand will be upper part, so that the wads of sand will be discharged outside the line of travel of the buckets and so that suflicient space will be afforded to permit the flask to be moved backand forth and to be otherwise manipu lated, as hereinafter described.

For supporting and mani ulating the flask and removing the pattern t erefrom we provide what we term a cradle, and this de vice and the means for operating the same willnow be described.

The numerals indicate two flat metal bars to opposite ends of each of which are secured the lower ends of two metal rods or hangers 31, the upper ends of which are secured, respectively, to two sleeve-supports 32, mounted on a shaft 33, near-opposite ends thereof. Said shaft is supported by'means of two chains 34, which are secured at one end thereto and pass over sprocketavhcels and have secured to their opposite ends, respectively, wei;,;hts 36. The sprocketwheels 35 are fast on a shaft 37, mounted in suitable bearings 38 on the supports 12. Fixedly secured on the shaft 37 1s a brake-wheel 39. Pivotally mounted on a support 40 is a brakedveam 41, having a brake-shoe 42, which normally bears upon the periphery of the brake-wheel 39 and prevents the shaft 37,

' from turning.

and consequentl the sprocket-wheelsBfi, ecu'red to and depending from the outer end of the brake-beam 4] is a rod 43, provided at its lower end with a ban die 44. By placing a weight 4-5 on the rod 43 the brake-shoe 42 can be made to bear upon the brake whcel with the requisite amount of iressurc to ay raising t ie rod 43 the brake-whecl will be released, as will be understood. The ends of the shaft 33 work between two sets of guides 33, which prevent lateral movement of said shaft. The lower or supporting part of the cradle comprises two metal side members 46, which are connected by means of bars 47, secured at their ends in the side members, near the lower edges thereof, and forming an open support to permit sand falling from the u'e'vent the latter from turniu;

flask to pass through and to fall upon or in proximity to the screen 8. cradle, formed by the side members and bars, as described, is pivotally supported in the bars 30 by means of bolts 48, passed centrally 48 are screw-threaded and have applied to them screw-threaded brake-levers 49, which when turned home will bear upon the bars 30 and cause the side members 46 of the bed to bind against said bars;and thus lock the bed against turning. J am-nuts 50- may be ap-' plied to the bolts and screwed up against the brake-levers to make the lock secure.

The scraping device comprises a support 51 located adjacent to the cradle, on which is pivotally mounted, as indicated at '52, a

frame 53, carrying toward its outer end on its under side a blade or scraper 54, which will be as long as the largest flask to be used with the apparatus is wide. At each end of the blade 54 curved guard-strips 55 are centrally secured and have their ends fastened to the frame 53 on each side of said blade, the purpose of these guides or gu rds being to prevent the blade 54 from striking against the side of the flask as the latter is swung to and fro. When uot'in use, the frame 53 may be swung up out of the way and held thus by a celeb 56. Flexible supports for the frame are indicated at 56, Fig. 7.

The operation of the device is as follows: The pattern-plate 57 is placed on the bed of the cradle and removably secured thereto, and the flask dis then placed over the attern and also removably secured to the ed. The rod 43 is then pushed up by the operator and the cradle raised by the action of t weights 36. Suilicient weights are placed on the chains 34 to cause the cradle to rise when \hc flash is empty. Band from the lloo'i' lis from time to time shoveled onto the screen S by the operator and passing into the hopper 6 is delivered by the feed-roller into the compertinent 19 oi the receptacle 5 and thence elevated by the buckets 15. As each bucket comes into contact with the packing-plate 23 the sand therein is compressed and is finally discharged from the bucket, as before stated. The wads of sand thus discharged will fall into the flask, the operator swinging the lat ier back and forth, so that the sand will be packed uniformly in all parts thereof. The discharge of the wads of sand continues until the sand has piled up somewhat above the flask, when the movement of the endless ele-' vator is discontinued, as by throwing the drivingdielt .of the pulley 28 onto a-loose pul- The bed of the now lowered, s o that the turned over--that is,

the cradle in its ley in a manner well known. The frame 53 is scraper 54 will rest upon the sand piled u onthe flask, and then by swinging the. cradie back and forth a few times the surplus sand will be scraped off, so that the sand in the flask will be level with the top thereof. If the brake-levers 4.9 have been turned home, they are now loosened, and by pushing u the latter, with t e flask, may be readily upside down-this motion being-so gentle as almost entirely to obviate any tendency to loosen the sand in the flask by jarring or shaking; The truck'S is now rolled beneath the cradle, and a bottom for the flask having been placed on the truck the operator pushes the rod 43 upward slightly and allows the bed and flask to descend gently until the latter rests upon the flaskbottom on the truck, the weight of the packed flask being sufficient to overcome the power of the weights 36.

It will be observed that the operator can control absolutely the rate of movemento'l' descent by varyingthe pressure of the brake-shoe on the brake-wheel through the medium of the rod 43. The flask being deposited on the truckthe next step is to remove the pattern. This is done by removing the fasteners which held the flask to the bars 47 of the bed and then raising the bar 43, when the cradle will rise, carrying the pattern 57 with it. This position of the parts is shown in F ig. 6. Before raising the pattern, however, it is desirable to tighten the brake-levers 49, so as to insure the pattern'beingr raised uniformly at each end. This latter is a highly important feature of our invention. Heretofore the invariable practice has been to raisethe paJZt-orn by hand; but, is well known, it is practically impossible for two or more men standing on opposite sides of a ilask to raise the pattern uniformly, as one man will raise his side a little faster than the other or push the pattern toward the other or otherwise displace the same, so that as aresult the corners and edges of the molded sand are frequently broken off, necessitating crmsidcrablc trowel.- work after the pattern has been removed. This objection is entirely overcome by our method of raising the pattern alisolutely in a straight line and uniformly at the sides and ends. After the pattern has been removed the llask'eontaining one-half of the mold is lifted from the truck, the cradle-bed is reversed, a new'flask is placed over the pattern, and the preceding operations are repeated. I

By our system of molding the lower halves of any desired number of molds are first made in the manner just described and then the upper halves are made in a similar manner and conveyed by a crane or othermeans on one end of the bed in. conabinzniou with sand to and deposited upon the lower halves, being turned in transit.

By means of our invention the flasks may be readily and rapidly manipulated with but slight exertion on the part of the operator and all of the movements being gentle and to shake "or jar the our apparatus accomplishes in a rapid and effective manner.

We have illustrated in the drawings the best form of apparatus now known to us for carrying out our invention. We do not wish to be understood, however, as limiting ourselves to the precise form. of apparatus shown, for in so far as the broad principles of-the invention. are concerned said apparatus might be varied in many respects without such changes constituting a real departure from the spirit of the invention as defined in the 'Olttll'llfii following.

We claim 1. Gravity molding apparatus comprising,

in colrbination with means for intermittently discharging into a flask froina suitable elevation compact wads of sand, a support for the flask movable back and forth across the line of fall ofsuch wads.

2. In gravity molding a paratus, in coir.- bination with means for e evating sand and intermittently discharging into a flask from such elevation compact wads thereof, a support for the flask movable back and forth across the line of fall of such wads.

3. Gravity molding apparatus comprising, in combination with sand elevating, (-o'npressing and. discharging oiechanis n, a pendent flaslosupport partially located in, and

movable back and forth across. the line of fall of the sand.

(.lravitv irol-ilin a; aratus coznorisin in combination with sand elevating, (701N- ng and. dist-longing N (Cllfll1l.-l n, a rciolo flask-support partially located in, and irovablc back and forth across the line of fall of the sand.

5. Gravil .olding, apparatus conprising,

elevating, connpressing and discharging, irechanis a pondout reversible has support partially located in and movable back and forth across the line of fall of the sand; 1

6. G avity molding apparatus cod prisingr, in eon'ibination with n teansfor intermittently discharging into a flask from a suitable elevation compact wads of sand, a swinging flask-support partially located in and movable back and forth such wads. y l

7. Gravity molding apparatus GOIlllHlSlDg.

across the line of fall of seo lee in combination with means for intermittently discharging into a flask from a suitable ele- 'vation compact wads of sand, a pendent re-' versi'ble fiask-support partially located in and movable back and forth across the line of fall of such wads, and means for locking said support in adjusted positions. i c 8. Gravity molding apparatus conprising, 1n COJI'iblIli LUOII with means for intermittently discharging into a flask from a suitable elevation compact wads of sand, 0. pendent reversible and vertically-movable flask-support artially located in and movable back and orth across the line of fall of such wads.

9. Gravity molding apparatus comprising, in combination with nieans for intermittently discharging into a flask from a suitable elevation compact wads of send, a swinging verpassing over said sprocket-wheels and having weights applied to their free ends, and brake mechanism cooperating with. said brake? wheel, thecombination operating as described.

11. Gravity molding apparatus comprising an endless bucket elevator having one end su ported at a suitable elevation, asdescribe the buckets being adapted to dis-,

char e at, the upper end of the elevator over ir, and the sand so discharged to fall into the flask, a sand-supply forsaid elevator, and means cooperating with said elevator for compressing the sand in the buckets thereof.

12. Gravity molding apparatus comprising an endless bucket elevator having one end su ported at a suitable elevation, as de scribe the buckets being adapted to dischar e at the upper end of the elevator over a ilas r, and the sand so discharged .to fall into the flask, a sand-supply for said elevator, and a pivoted packinglate adaptedto be engaged successively by the buckets in their upward movement.

' 13. In gravity molding apparatus, in combination with means for elevating and intermittently discharging sand above a flask to fall by gravity thel'einto, means for compressing the, sand, before its discharge, into unitary blocks or wads. 1

l4. Ingravity molding apparatus, means for elevating the sand, means for compressing the same into separate wads, of blocks,

and means for intermittently discharging said wads or blocks above a flask to cause the sand to fall into and pack in said flask.

15. In gravity molding apparatus, means for continuously elevating and discharging separate, unitary bodies of sand above a flask to cause the sand to fall into and pack in said flask, and means for compressing each body of sand before its discharge:

16. In gravity molding apparatus, means for continuously elevating and discharging separate, unitary bodies of sand above a flask to cause the sand to fall into and pack in said flask, and automatic means for compressing each body of sand before its discharge.

17. In gravity molding apparatus, in combination with a swinging cradle, a scraper pivotally mounted adjacent thereto and adapted to be turned into and out'of cooperative relation therewith.

18. In gravity molding apparatuain combination with a swinging cradle, a scraper cooperating therewith, said scraper compris ing a frame, a blade projecting therefrom, and curved guards located at the outer edge of the blade at each end thereof and extend ing to the frame at points removed from either side thereof.

19. Gravity molding apparatus compris ing an endless sand-elevator having one end supported at a considerable height, as described, and being adapted to discharge the sand intermittently at its upper end over a flask, to cause the sand to fall by gravitydirectly thereinto, asand-supply for said elevator, said elevator being guided to travel in planes inclined to the vertical, and a flaskv support movable back andjforth across the line' of fall of the sand.

20. Gravity molding apparatus comprising an endless sand-elevator having one and supported at a considerable height, as de scribed, andbeing adapted to discharge the sand intermittently at its upper end over a flask, to cause the sand to fall by gravity directly thereinto, a sand-supply for said ole vator, said elevator being guided 'nterrne diate its ends to cause the upper and lower portions thereof respectively, to travel in planes inclined in opposite directions to the vertical, and a ilask-support movable back and forth across the line of fall of the sand.

21. Gravity molding apparatus comprising an endless sand-elevatorhaving one and supported at a considerable height, as described, and being adapted to discharge the sand intermittently into s ace at its upper end over a flask, to cause t 1e sand to fall by gravity directly thereinto, a sand-supply for i said elevator, said BlBVEtIOI being gui ed intor-mediate its ends tb cause the upper and lower portions thereof, respectively, to travel in planes inclined in opposite directions to 840,789 v 5 thevertieel, and a swingingcradle adapted set our hands in presence of twosuhscribing to support the flask to receive the wads of i Witnesses. sand discharged from the elevator, said 5 JOHN E. MITCHELL. cradle being movable toward end from the Y 5 elevator. in the space afforded by inclining DENNIS PARKS the opposite I end portions thereof as del Witnesses: scribed. 4 v CLELL MELTON,

' In testimony whereof we have hereunto HENRY N. LENGFELDER." 

